Top Stories
In House of Representatives, Republicans Remain the White Man Party
In the U.S. House of Representatives, nearly 90% of the GOP caucus is made up of white men. Not exactly representative of the U.S. population, which is less than a third Caucasian and male.
For anyone wondering, more than half (53%) of the House Democratic caucus are not white men.
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Majority of Federal Appeals Court Judges Appointed by Democratic Presidents for First Time in more than 10 Years
Five years ago, Republican-appointed judges dominated the federal appeals courts, with 99 seats compared to 65 held by those selected during Democratic administrations. Now, those numbers have flipped. Judges nominated by Democrats total 95, thanks in significant part to Obama’s selections since taking office in 2009. Republican-appointed circuit judges total 77, according to the Brookings Institution. The last time Democratic appointees were in the majority was in 2000. read more
Obama Fourth President in a Row to Go on Prime-Time TV to Announce Bombing of Iraq
Obama is the fourth president in a row to go on television and tell his fellow Americans that the skies over Iraq will soon be filled with U.S. warplanes laden with enough ordnance to turn some village into kindling.
This announcement was different though. Obama was somewhat vague on the details of how this campaign would work. read more
Saving and Loan Scandal of ’80s and ’90s: 102 High-Level Executives Convicted; 2008 Financial Crisis Scandal: 1
“After the savings and loans crisis, the government brought over 1,000 criminal prosecutions and got over 800 convictions,” Warren scolded during a congressional hearing attended by Federal Reserve leaders. However, the Obama administration has instead pursued civil cases against firms, resulting in no executives facing the threat of prison. read more
West Virginia, the Only State to See a Rise in Crime over 18 Years, also has Greatest Increase in Imprisonment Rate
Crime has fallen in every state but one: West Virginia. There, despite a 195% increase in the imprisonment rate, the crime rate climbed by 6% between 1994 and 2012, according to research from Pew. Statistics would show that an increase in imprisonment wasn’t predictive at all of a state’s relative decline in crime rate. read more
Obama and Kerry Ally U.S. with 8 Arab Dictators to Combat ISIS
The Saudi dictatorship has long been criticized by human rights groups for everything from lack of free elections to its medieval approach to justice.
Last month alone, the country executed 22 people, including eight by beheading. Their crimes were for drug trafficking, adultery, apostasy and “sorcery,” according to The Washington Post. Seeking the Saudis’ help in this cause is especially ironic since the United States was moved to action after ISIS beheaded two U.S. journalists.
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72% of Americans Disapprove of Republican Party…but it’s Set to Take Control of Both Houses of Congress Anyway
According to a Washington Post-ABC poll, nearly half of all Americans “strongly” disapprove of GOP members in Congress, and their total negative rating is 72%.
So how is it Republicans are sitting pretty for November?
For starters—according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll—only 25% of Americans think it would be a “bad thing” for the GOP to take over the Senate. read more
One in Five U.S. Women Raped during their Lifetime
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), using data reported in 2011, determined that 19.3% of women had been raped during their lifetimes. Forty-four percent have endured “other forms of sexual violence during their lifetimes." 79% of rape victims were attacked before the age of 25, with 40% of attacks occurring to those under 18. read more
Homeland Security has Lost Track of 6,000 Foreign Students; Suspicion Falls on For-Profit Colleges
The government-approved list includes more than 9,000 schools, including those specializing in beauty, massage, golf, acupuncture and flight training. It is each school’s responsibility to always know the whereabouts of their student visa-holders and to notify federal officials of chronic absences. Visa-holder Hanjour vanished from his classes prior to flying a jet into the Pentagon.. read more
Local Governments Increase Revenue by Seizing Property Belonging to those not Charged with Crimes
Using a program developed to combat drug trafficking, local governments across the United States have boosted their budgets with monies and property forfeited by individuals who were never charged with breaking the law. Cities and counties have pocketed more than $1.7 billion since 2001 through the federal Equitable Sharing Program, which encourages local police to stop citizens and seize their possessions, even if they haven’t been proven to having done anything wrong. read more
Federal Judge Orders Ohio to Reinstate Early Voting
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) has been stopped again by a U.S. Circuit Court judge in his efforts to limit voting in his state. Early voting and evenings and weekends are the time when many African-American and other minority voters go to the polls, often because they have no alternative because of their work schedules. Husted also tried to limit voting hours in the 2012 election, but was stopped by Economus that time as well. read more
Federal Court Blocks Release of Possible Torture Video
Efforts to expose videos and photos that documented torture at Guantánamo have been blocked by a federal appeals court in New York that sided with the Obama administration in its refusal to turn over the information.
The case centered on the treatment of Mohammed al-Qahtani, dubbed the 20th hijacker in the 9/11 attacks. Captured in 2001 and held at Guantánamo since then, al-Qahtani has been subjected to torture and other harsh treatment during his detention. read more
White Cops Policing Minority Communities…All Too Common
In some towns, such as Dellwood, Missouri, and Stone Park, Illinois, the difference is greater than 70%. The gap in Ferguson is 55%. Other communities with a 50% or greater racial disparity include 11 in New Jersey alone, eight in Illinois, and six in California. Hispanics are also underrepresented in many police forces. For example, in Montclair, California, 70% of the population is Hispanic, but Hispanics make up only 15% of the police force. read more
Airline Passengers Push Back against Cramped Conditions…and Each Other
Three times in nine days commercial flights have been forced to land after passengers got into arguments over seating quarters.
A New York-to-Palm Beach Delta flight wound up stopping in Jacksonville, Florida, after a woman reclined her seat and bumped into the head of Amy Fine of Boca Raton, who was using her tray table as a pillow. read more
Some Supreme Court Justices Don’t Bother to Fact-Check “Facts” They Cite
Allison Orr Larsen found the court had cited facts contained in amicus briefs 124 times from 2008 to 2013. In 61% of the cases, the justices did not bother to cite the original source of a “fact” included in an amicus brief. “This practice indicates that the Justices treat amici as experts, not as research tools,” wrote Larsen.
Some of these “factual assertions in recent amicus briefs would not pass muster in a high school research paper,” Adam Liptak wrote.
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Lawsuits Accuse Major Employers of Squeezing Extra Dollars out of Low-Wage Workers
Schneider, a national trucking company, was sued by hundreds of its employees for labor violations, including not paying overtime even after some workers clocked 70 hours in a week. The business has agreed to pay $21 million to settle the matter.
Fedex was sued in California because its drivers are classified as independent contractors to avoid paying overtime. The company lost its case, but is now appealing the ruling.
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